HIV infected acrobat, 32 year old Godfrey Zaburoni allegedly infected hundreds of women all over Australia and a special task force will help track down all of these women.
Zaburoni lived in NSW in 2000 before he moved to Queensland. He however traveled back and forth. There are some men also who called alleging they had had unprotected sex with the HIV positive acrobat.
The health authorities have received an unexpectedly high number of calls after a hotline was opened and expected more calls to come. Spokesperson for the QH said that there are still many men and women who are getting tested by their own doctors. Many who called the 13HEALTH number after it was opened yesterday were referred to the Queensland Health Aids unit.
Earlier one of Mr. Zaburoni's sexual partners, a woman lodged a complaint against him after she tested positive for HIV. The charges against him included grievous bodily harm and malicious acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm. The police also had the names of 12 women which Zaburoni gave them. Five of these are from NSW.
Regional Crime coordinator Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson feels that the number is much higher. “We are aware of a number of women we believe had unprotected sex with him but there could well be many others…Some of the women that have been identified certainly were very short-term relationships…so there could be any number of women out there like that.”
He added that Zaburoni could be awarded life imprisonment if convicted for these charges. He was presented at the Southport Magistrate's Court on Wednesday and remanded in custody until June 9.
Mr Zaburoni's sexual partners are urged to contact the Queensland Health hotline 13HEALTH (1343 2584) and Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
Georgetown University receives $27.5 million grant to combat HIV/AIDS in Haiti